


Train Wreck

by glowingGalaxies



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, I WILL elaborate a bit more on what the hell that au means in the notes, an au where p5's just a little more like p4, but I think as long as you know p4 and p5 you'll be able to follow what's going on, if you're actually interested in the logistics, look I just wanted to write akechi denying his shadow is that so much to ask, primarily in terms of having a midnight channel and how shadows work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowingGalaxies/pseuds/glowingGalaxies
Summary: It had been a rather strange Midnight Channel feature, actually. They knew Goro Akechi as the second Detective Prince, who solved unsolvable cases and was trying to figure out who the mysterious Phantom Thieves that stole information and confessions were. But it was almost hard to recognize the Akechi that’d shown up on the TV asthatAkechi. While he hadn’t looked all that different, the pleasant smile he was known for having took on a malicious quality in his Shadow, who idly spun a gun around in one hand, and the rest of his appearance was almosttooperfect, especially in contrast.And he hadn’t said anything, just started knowingly into the camera, like he was expecting them.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Train Wreck

**Author's Note:**

> as promised, my little note on how I imagine things to be working here:  
> \- the midnight channel and the "TVVerse" for p5; tokyo's tvs show people's shadows, and the p5 kids go around confronting them and using the confessions + evidence broadcast by it to force targets to accept what they've done, and why, and turn themselves in (essentially, still resulting in a change of heart). they're rebelling against yaldabaoth, and of course shido and shitty adults in general, as in canon. they're called the Phantom Thieves, but more as "thieves" of what people have tried to keep hidden- information, secrets, etc
> 
> and for fun:  
> \- the metanav and the "phone world" for p4; they use the phone lines to navigate to people's palaces (based in inaba bc they can travel huge distances via the lines) and steal their treasure, which is a manifestation of what the target's been denying. this forces the shadow to confront it, and accept what they need to change about themselves/their situation. they're trying to figure out who's been sending people into the phone world, then leaving them to die there (still ultimately against izanami and the fog). they're called the Investigation Team, but more as a "team" of superheroes
> 
> obviously this is only loosely fleshed out because I was just having fun mixing up the concepts, but I'd love to hear any ideas anyone else may have after reading this note + the fic!

The Detective Prince had shown up on the Midnight Channel last night.

Or, rather, Akira should say, the _second_ one had. The first one hadn’t been anywhere near Tokyo anytime recently, as far as he’d heard. Actually, he hadn’t heard much about them at all since that Investigation Team case had died down a few years ago, besides the occasional televised case they were mentioned in.

But, back to the more important thing on television at the moment, the Phantom Thieves seemed to have their next rescue target. They gathered at the- well, the _new_ usual spot, at Haru’s house, since she had by far the largest TV of any of them- the next day, after confirming that was who they saw. 

It had been a rather strange Midnight Channel feature, actually. They knew Goro Akechi as the second Detective Prince, who solved unsolvable cases and was trying to figure out who the mysterious Phantom Thieves that stole information and confessions were. But it was almost hard to recognize the Akechi that’d shown up on the TV as _that_ Akechi. While he hadn’t looked all that different, the pleasant smile he was known for having took on a malicious quality in his Shadow, who idly spun a gun around in one hand, and the rest of his appearance was almost _too_ perfect, especially in contrast.

And he hadn’t said anything, just started knowingly into the camera, like he was expecting them. Frankly it was unsettling enough that a part of him almost didn’t want to go in after him.

But it wasn’t like they’d actually do that, of course. Their reputation was shady at best, and no one really knew what to think of them, and their help in returning the people that disappeared was about the only undeniably good thing they had going for them. And it’d look _especially_ bad if Akechi in particular was the one person they didn’t bring back. Plus… they were kinda friends with Akechi, he liked to think, even if the detective publicly spoke out against the Thieves.

So they jumped in, as usual, and Futaba worked to figure out where Akechi had ended up in the TVVerse. Akira supplied information where he could, since he knew him best, but even before Akechi’s Shadow appeared he had been wondering if Akechi was really telling them everything. Well, now they were going to find out.

Detective detected, they hopped in the Monabus and drove past familiar dungeons until they’d reached what was apparently a… train? Stopped at a station?

“Uh… okay, I’m not the only one lost here, right?” Ryuji asked, as they stood at the station.

Morgana scoffed. “It’s a train, duh.”

“Yeah, but like… what?”

“Well, trains are a popular setting for murder mysteries,” Makoto suggested. “And Akechi is a detective.”

“Yeah, but he isn’t hiding that!” Ann frowned. “Even Futaba’s pyramid was-”

Futaba cleared her throat, cutting Ann off. “Uh, well, I can definitely sense his Shadow on the train.”

“I suppose we might as well just board the train and find out,” Haru said, adjusting her grip on her axe, which was currently resting on her shoulder.

They found the usual swirling red and black vortex that signified the entrance to a dungeon waiting for them at the door to the caboose of the train. Apparently the station was just a manifestation of the “outside” of it, after all, the same way that Kaneshiro’s bank had been hovering above city streets. With a quick glance at the Thieves to make sure they were all ready, Akira boarded.

The inside of the train was, as Makoto had suggested, just like stepping into a Sherlock Holmes movie. It certainly wasn’t a _modern_ train. As they cautiously wandered through the train car, they didn’t see shadows, and the silence of the train was eerie and suffocating.

It didn’t help matters when the lights suddenly shut off, there was a scream from somewhere, and then the lights flickered back on. They heard voices from behind the door to one of the rooms just ahead of them, and Akira hesitantly opened the door.

Inside was a murder scene- there was really no other way to describe it. A faceless cognition was lying on the ground in a pool of cognitive blood, with a bullet wound through its head. Next to it was Akechi’s Shadow, examining the body. It looked up at them as they entered the room, and its face was the same unsettlingly pleasant look they’d seen on the Midnight Channel.

“So, the Phantom Thieves were the ones who murdered this innocent person,” it announced, expression unchanging.

“Uh, what? We just got here,” Ann replied, a hand already going to her whip.

“It’s too bad. I’ll have to find some evidence to “prove” it, but I’m sure there’s something “incriminating” somewhere,” It continued, as if she hadn’t spoken. It didn’t indicate the quotation marks with its hands, but Akira could still clearly hear them.

A much larger shadow appeared next to Akechi’s Shadow.

“I suppose I’ll just have to stall you all while I look,” it said, and then the summoned shadow charged.

As they fought, Akira was vaguely aware of Akechi’s Shadow leaving the room, and the cognition’s body finally vanishing. By the time the fight was over, Akechi’s Shadow was likely long gone.

“So. That was weird.” Futaba started.

“It seems that we’re being framed as the culprits of this murder mystery,” Yusuke added, with a hint of dismay.

Morgana brushed himself off. “Isn’t he a detective? Isn’t he supposed to be good at finding the truth here?”

“I… hesitate to say it… but considering this is his Shadow, it almost seems to be telling us…” Makoto’s voice drifted off.

“His past deductions have been fake,” Akira finished. “That… well, that’s pretty huge.”

“But Shadows never tell us anything that big right away! They always save it ‘til the end so they can get people to deny them,” Ryuji countered.

“That’s true, that’s why I didn’t want to say it just yet…”

Ann clipped her whip back on her belt. “Well, unless there’s… something even bigger? Maybe that’s just not what Akechi’s denying.”

The weight of Ann’s words sunk in. If Akechi was intentionally doing this, it did stand to reason he wouldn’t be lying to himself about it. But then what _would_ he be hiding?

“I guess we’ll just have to keep going…”

They filed out of the room, and found the car was now a bit of a maze- which didn’t make sense given what they’d seen of the outside of the train, but dungeons rarely did- with the usual shadows roaming around. Rather than being guards or robots or anything else they’d seen, though, these were dressed as normal passengers. It seemed in Akechi’s cognition, average people would be against whoever they believed to be the culprit, with or without evidence, which… Akira couldn’t really argue. They weren’t too popular after Okumura’s death.

Passing through the cars went much the same; it seemed they had “cars” instead of “floors” this time, and presumably Akechi himself would be in the front car. Whenever they had to call it a day and used a Goho-M, they’d always find the train stopped at a station, waiting for their return, though the stations appeared in a different location each time.

With each car, there was another “murder”, the security level would spike, and Akechi’s Shadow would accuse them again, citing their “violence towards the other passengers” now. It still always looked unnervingly pleasant. Occasionally, they heard what sounded like the real Akechi’s voice ringing through the train, although whatever he was saying was impossible to make out through the apparent frustration he was feeling. Once or twice Akechi’s voice stopped and they heard gunshots, which only made them more worried.

Interestingly, they never heard the gunshots before a “murder”.

Finally, they were just a car away from the engine at the front. To their surprise upon opening the door, however, they found Akechi and his Shadow _here_.

To their _further_ surprise, Akechi was the one with the gun.

“You _are_ me, I get it! Either die or turn back into Loki, so I can finally get out of here!” Akechi demanded, gun trained on the Shadow, who looked as pleasant as ever (though it seemed to shift into a bit of a smirk as the Thieves burst in). “ _I’m_ the culprit! _I’ve_ been faking the cases! What else do you want?!”

The Shadow was looking at them, now, and it took Akechi a moment to turn and do the same. 

He took a deep breath. “Ah, you must be the Phantom Thieves. I apologize if I seem to have lost my cool a bit, this is-” a mirthless chuckle- “a rather exhausting experience.” 

He didn’t sound particularly surprised to see who it was. As Akira had suspected, he already knew. He hoped their friendship wasn’t _just_ a front to get information on them, though the possibility had occurred to him before. 

“You’ve… really been the one causing mental shutdowns, Akechi-kun?” Makoto asked. 

Akechi’s attempt at composing himself earlier fell again, and he gave them a sour look. “Yes, it’s true. Obviously I hadn’t intended for you to find out, let alone like this, but.” He turned his gun in their direction instead. “I certainly don’t need a _Persona_ to deal with you all.” 

The Shadow’s grin grew, and while it’d lost the politeness of earlier it hadn’t become any less creepy. It laughed, and Akechi swore under his breath and turned the gun back at it. 

“What. Do. You. _Want._ ” 

It was… strange, seeing Akechi acting like this, but Akira couldn’t be completely surprised. Akechi’s politeness had felt stiffer and faker the more he’d gotten to know him, and well… now they knew he was behind the shutdowns. Though, if he had a Shadow, that meant something wasn’t adding up. And it raised the question of how Akechi had gotten an entire dungeon. 

“You got thrown into the TV, didn’t you?” Akira asked. 

Akechi visibly stiffened, eyes darting back to him. “What?” 

“You wouldn’t have developed a dungeon if your Shadow had manifested while you were in someone else’s dungeon,” Makoto elaborated for him. “That means you must have entered the TVVerse against your will.” 

Akechi didn’t say anything, so his Shadow filled in for him. “I’m such a hypocrite. I mock the blind _idiots_ I have as targets for refusing to acknowledge parts of themselves, and allowing that to become a weakness, but I’m the worst of them all!” 

The gun fired, hitting the shadow directly in the head. Blood dripped down its face, but it seemed unaffected. “Shut up! I’m better than them, I got my Persona _first_ ,” Akechi growled. 

“If he was thrown in, that would mean he’s not the only one responsible for this,” Yusuke mused. “But for some reason, it seems he doesn’t want us to know that, and it’s fueling his Shadow.” 

“What, like, he’s working for someone?” Ann asked. 

“Or with,” Haru added. “My father was involved in a much larger conspiracy, but we never got the name of who was in charge of it.” 

“Don’t you _dare_! You are _not_ ruining everything I’ve worked for!” Akechi shouted, furious. “I’m the one behind the shutdowns, and I’ve been doing it as a hired hitman. There? Are you _happy_?” 

“I’m not.” The Shadow announced. “And you’re barely giving them hints, they’re going to take forever to figure it out on their own.” 

Akechi held his ground, refusing to say anything else. He couldn’t seem to decide whether to point his gun- did it even have bullets left?- at the Shadow or at them. 

“Suit yourself, I’ll just keep talking. I’m _great_ at talking, aren’t I? I’ve convinced the entire public of Tokyo that I’m the righteous prince bringing justice to the liars. But you _know_ that’s not true; that’s not why I’m here.” The shadow turned to the Thieves like he was imparting a secret. “I’m the idiot who can’t accept _why_ I’ve been acting like this.” 

“Shut up! They don’t need to know, they don’t care about this!” 

“Oh, but _I_ do. That’s just it. I care about a lot of things, and I hate it. I hate it so much, I went and lost control of my Persona, and now for the first time I have a Shadow!" 

As Akechi growled something back that sounded like it had several swears, Akira mulled this over. Akechi hadn't had a Shadow to start with, either, like Akira. They were the only two people he knew that could say that. 

… Of course, it also proved that if Akira started denying things, he could lose his Personas, just like anyone else. 

Akechi's shadow only seemed to grow happier as Akechi kept talking. "Oh, you _wish_ you could shut me up. I'm you, and you're me, right? But you can't actually say that and _mean_ it until you hear what I have to say." 

"Fine. Then get your stupid speech over with so I can get out of here." The grip Akechi had on his gun at this point looked like it was going to snap it in half. 

What could he be hiding that was so bad he was acting like _this_? 

The Shadow's smile flickered back to that unsettling polite one. "Thank you. As I was saying, I'm doing all this to get revenge on the _true_ culprit, and I don't want you _Thieves_ stealing my vindication." 

Akechi was making a visible effort not to say anything. 

"But I can't accept the real reason I'm doing this. Why I'm making it so complicated. I could just shoot his shadow and be done with it, but I couldn't make it that simple because I still _care_ what that idiot thinks. I still want to be _acknowledged_ by him, and that's why I have to be essential to his plan, and make him recognize that, before revealing I'm his _son_ and finally ending it." 

The Thieves, including Akira himself, couldn't hold back a gasp at that. Akechi'd mentioned his father maybe once to Akira, with a clear contempt for the man who abandoned his mother. Akechi must have tracked him down just for all of this. 

No wonder he still sounded so furious about the guy. Whoever he was, he'd been using Akechi's mother, and now he was using Akechi himself to do his dirty work. 

But the Shadow wasn't done. "But then you all came along. People with the same power as me? They're a liability. I had to keep an eye on you to keep you from getting too close and ruining my chance. But then I went and did the _one thing_ you're not supposed to do, working undercover. I-" 

Before the Shadow could finish, Akechi attempted to fire the gun again, but found it was out of bullets. 

"I went and-" 

With surprising force, Akechi threw the gun at the Shadow, hitting it directly in the face. 

"I went and got-" 

Akechi launched _himself_ at the Shadow, knocking it over and pinning it down, covering its mouth with his hands. " _Don't_ say it!" 

The Shadow pushed him off without much difficulty, knocking Akechi back and off balance. 

"I went and got _attached_! I started thinking about what it would be like if we really _were_ friends and I wasn't just working with you on cases for the sake of keeping you from getting in my way! How _pathetic_ is that?!" The Shadow cackled. 

Akechi didn't get up from where he'd landed on the ground, just sat there, hands balled into fists, face hidden by his hair. 

"Akechi, you know it's… okay to want friends, right?" Ryuji tried. 

"I mean, I locked myself in my room and didn't even want them to be my friends, but now look at me!" Futaba said, gesturing vaguely in a way that Akira assumed to mean 'I _choose_ to hang out with them now'. 

Finally, Akechi stood up, but rather than face his Shadow, he turned to them. "No, you don't get it. Friends are a crutch. A weakness I cannot afford to have. I don't 'care about you', I hate you, and your stupid insistence that you're stronger together. You're all just leaning on each other instead of getting stronger yourselves!" 

"You can ask for help and still be strong, Akechi," Makoto said, concern on her face. 

"Making your weakness known just makes it easier for others to exploit," Akechi shot back. "I didn't get anything from anyone, and I still clawed my way up to being the fucking _Detective Prince_ and getting. So. CLOSE. To making it all worth it! And if I let you in, you're just going to stop me, because you're too good for murder! _I_ don't give a damn!" 

Ann frowned. "You know, I nearly killed Kamoshida's Shadow when we fought him." 

Akechi's face didn't change. 

"I just knew he'd suffer more if he felt bad for what he did but had to live with it. It had nothing to do with being 'too good', I want him to live a long life so he can remember _every day_ what he put Shiho through, and regret it." 

"I mean, I don't know if I'd be down for murder, but I sure as hell don't want any of these shitty people to get away with what they've done. I know what it's like to have a shitty dad, I don't blame you, man." 

"I know what it's like to not know how to feel about yourself or where you'd fit into a team that's so different from you, but you can define _yourself_ , instead of working with someone you can't stand." 

"I can relate to not wanting to distract yourself with friends when you have a goal in mind, but really, it becomes so much easier when you don't put everything on your own shoulders." 

"I, too, have complicated feelings about the man I saw as a father. I wouldn't want to get in your way for the revenge you see fit, if it truly would bring you catharsis." 

"I don't know exactly how I feel about you yet, but I wouldn't object to you joining us sincerely. You've been wronged by the adults and this conspiracy as much as any of us, and you deserve to see this through." 

"Same here. We might not forgive you for what you've done, but you were just being used for their game as much as any of us." 

With everyone else having spoken, it was Akira's turn, it seemed. "You're my rival until the end; I don't want it to be cut short just because you can't accept that you're enjoying it too. Whether you join us for this or not, don't let your Shadow manipulate you into giving it the reaction it wants. We've all been taken advantage of more than enough." 

Akechi sighed, exasperated, like it was taking all of his patience just to hear all this. His Shadow next to him kept that pleasant face, waiting to see what would happen. Did its reaction mean he wasn’t going to accept it? Don’t Shadows always want to be rejected? 

The tension in the air felt like it could be cut with a knife; really, Akira wished it could, so he wouldn’t have to deal with waiting for Akechi to say something. 

He took another deep breath. “Fine. I admit it. I enjoy spending time with all of you, even if it was supposed to just be keeping you out of my way. I want to be needed and acknowledged by all of you, and my worthless father, and I _hate_ it. But I can’t deny it.” He glanced back at the Shadow. “You’re _me_ ,” he spit out, “and I’m _you_.” 

The Shadow smiled, and it felt real and almost comforting this time, before turning back into what was apparently Akechi’s Persona. Or, Personas? It shifted between a sharp, striped one and one that looked like a superhero. Then it vanished, leaving a mask in Akechi’s hands. 

Akechi slumped against the wall of the car behind him, suddenly looking as exhausted as people usually did after spending a few days in the TVVerse. “Can we just get out of here without talking about anything, now?” 

Akira smiled. “Yeah, sure, detective.” 

**Author's Note:**

> for anyone curious, the rationale for akechi's dungeon being a train + murder mystery:  
> \- it's the kind of theme that could be a televised show, as p4's midnight channel broadcasts seem to loosely follow  
> \- a train also fits the loose p5 theme of "stereotypical places for thieves to rob"! they're train hijackers  
> \- it's a pretty stereotypical Detective Setting, to contrast akechi's shadow's unusual detective role (as also the one "committing" the murders on the train)  
> \- the one truly behind the "murders" is actually the unseen conductor- literally the one driving the operation in this case, to destinations akechi can't control- who remains hidden even at the completion of akechi's dungeon (it's shido)  
> \- I just thought it would be fun, honestly. like makoto says... detectives, murder mysteries...


End file.
